The invention relates to a process for manufacturing a honeycomb seal, whereby the honeycomb seal has a honeycomb structure comprising multiple honeycombs, whereby the honeycomb structure is designed to be open on one side, namely on the sealing side, and whereby the honeycomb structure on a side opposite the sealing side is sealed by a carrier element and is fixedly connected to same.
German Patent Document No. DE 196 31 038 C2 discloses a process for manufacturing a honeycomb seal, whereby the honeycomb seal consists of a carrier part and/or a carrier element and a honeycomb element and/or a honeycomb structure. According to the process disclosed there, the carrier part is first positioned on a supporting device and is thereby brought to the desired three-dimensional form, and then the honeycomb element is placed on the carrier part. After pressing the honeycomb element against the carrier part, tack spot welding is performed on the contact surface of the carrier part and the honeycomb element at a fixed number of spots, with protective gas being injected at the tack points. The final attachment of the honeycomb element to the carrier part is accomplished by soldering in the sense described in DE 196 31 038 C2.
In particular when a honeycomb element and/or a honeycomb structure made of an FeCrAlY material is to be joined to a carrier part and/or a carrier element made of a nickel-based alloy or a cobalt-based alloy, there are problems in soldering together the honeycomb element and the carrier part, in particular. Thus, with such pairings of materials in particular, soldering must be performed at very high temperatures and at a pressure below 10−5 bar, preferably in a vacuum. Such extreme operating conditions in soldering lead to high manufacturing costs and also entail high manufacturing risks.
Against this background, the object of the present invention is to create a novel process for manufacturing a honeycomb seal.
According to this invention, the process includes the following steps: a) the honeycomb structure is brought to the desired three-dimensional form and is fixed in this form; b) then the honeycomb structure is filled with a filler material; c) then the honeycomb structure filled with filler material is machined on the side where the carrier element is to be arranged, such that this side has the desired contour and that the end edges of the honeycomb structure are sealed flushly with the filler compound; d) then the side contoured in this way is coated with a coating; e) then the carrier element is applied to the coating, preferably by laser powder build-up welding.
According to an advantageous development of this invention, in step b) the honeycomb structure is filled with an electrically conductive filler material, in particular with conductive wax, while in step d) the contoured side is coated with an adhesive layer for the carrier element.